Research a Condition

Knowledge is power! Start here to find out what you need to know about food and how it affects your health.

You probably already know that food affects your health — that's why you're here, right? You have lots of options on Food Cures, from digging into the science behind food's effect on your body, to browsing healthy recipes, to creating your own personal Food Cures plan for your condition. You may also want to do some background exploration on your condition, which is where this section comes in. Start here to get the basics — you can also see slideshows of foods that will help you, and get my answers to common questions. I'll be adding more conditions soon, so check back often!

Arthritis Arthritis affects just over one in every five people in the U.S. — most of whom don't realize how much nutrition can improve the way they feel. A healthy eating plan can greatly reduce the painful symptoms of arthritis and other joint-related diseases. Find the best anti-inflammatory foods to pick, plus the foods to avoid.

Cancer Prevention Our best defense against cancer is prevention: keeping ourselves as healthy as possible and eating the kinds of foods that have been shown to help protect our bodies — right down to our cells. Some foods can damage body cells, setting them up for precancerous changes, while other foods protect cells from damage. Cancer prevention depends on knowing the difference.

Celiac Disease Celiac disease is a surprisingly common autoimmune disorder. It can begin at any time in a person's life, and there is no consistent set of symptoms. Luckily, the disease is almost entirely treatable with the appropriate dietary changes — so feeling better is as simple as knowing what to eat and what to avoid.

Healthy Living Food does more than help you manage or ease symptoms of health conditions — it can help prevent those conditions in the first place and change the way you feel. The Healthy Living section will show you how to boost your mood and improve your memory, help you make the right nutrition choices for your family, and show you the basics of healthy eating for weight loss.

Heart Health High blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides can have severe, and even fatal, consequences. Fortunately, making serious changes to your lifestyle and diet — specifically, eliminating bad fats, cholesterol, refined carbs and salt — right away can improve your heart health and help you live a longer life.

High Blood Pressure I often tell my clients to make nutritional changes at a pace that feels comfortable to them. But that's not good enough when it comes to high blood pressure and other heart-health issues. The consequences of doing too little are severe — heart attack, stroke, pain, disability, death — so you need to start immediately and go all out!

High Cholesterol Where does cholesterol come from, and what causes the bad kind to build up to levels that are considered dangerous? Most importantly, how do you get your numbers to a healthy place — preferably without a lifetime of medication? You've come to the right place.

High Triglycerides High triglyceride numbers raise a red flag to your doctor — they make blood thicker and stickier, which means that it is more likely to clot, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Fortunately, triglycerides can often be easily controlled with several diet and lifestyle changes.

IBS Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is common, and yet it remains a mystery. No one knows exactly what causes it, and there is no way for a doctor to make a definitive diagnosis. What's certain is that food can trigger flare-ups — by discovering your personal triggers, you can learn how to eat meals that are safe for your stomach.

Insomnia Insomnia is more than just frustrating tossing and turning — over time, it can take a dangerous toll on your health. That's why it's important to make certain diet and lifestyle changes that can help get your sleep patterns back on track and have you resting easy.

Looking Great Your appearance is great marker of your overall health, and good nutrition assures the best possible environment for enhancing your appearance. Making certain diet changes can help your hair grow shiny and strong, turn back the clock on aging skin, and keep your teeth healthy. In this section, find out what to eat to look great — and feel even better!

Migraine Headaches Identifying your migraine triggers can be a painstaking process, but there are some everyday habits that will certainly help. A multipronged approach — discovering and eliminating your personal triggers while practicing healthy habits — can go a long way toward preventing migraines and keeping you pain-free.

Osteoporosis Next to genetic predisposition, poor nutrition is the most common cause of osteoporosis. Making healthy food choices can help prevent dangerous bone loss — and it's an important treatment once osteoporosis has been diagnosed. Learn to eat your way to stronger bones and help prevent or treat this painful disease.

PMS For most women, PMS is an uncomfortable fact of life. While the exact severity and range of symptoms will differ from woman to woman, many experience the bloating, irritability and mood swings that come with "that time of the month." Luckily there are Food Cures to help get your symptoms under control.

Type 2 Diabetes It's an extremely serious condition, but type 2 diabetes doesn't have to run (or ruin) your life. If you work with your doctor to monitor and control your blood sugar and commit to eating right and exercising regularly, there's great reason to believe you'll live a long, healthy life.

Vision Vision loss and its tragic implications are all too common: Cataracts affect more than half of all Americans over age 80, and as many as 11 million Americans have some form of macular degeneration. In the past decade, research has pointed to nutrition as one factor that might reduce the risk and slow the progression of these disorders.

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